Patiencehttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/patience
en-usSun, 02 Aug 2015 19:24:59 -0400Sun, 02 Aug 2015 19:24:59 -0400The latest news on Patience from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/this-common-character-trait-is-costing-young-people-money-2014-7This Common Character Trait Is Costing Young People Moneyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/this-common-character-trait-is-costing-young-people-money-2014-7
Fri, 01 Aug 2014 12:36:00 -0400Bill Edgar
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/53dab746ecad04b0247542f4-480-/long-airport-line-1.jpg" border="0" alt="long airport line" width="480" /></p><p>Being impatient is part of being an American.</p>
<p>We hate to wait for what we want.</p>
<p>If it takes longer than 30 seconds to get our food at McDonalds, we&rsquo;re steaming. If it takes longer than 10 seconds to find what we&rsquo;re looking for on Google, we&rsquo;re updating our Facebook status to let the world know.</p>
<p>Here are just a few examples of ways people let impatience get the best of them:</p>
<p>&nbsp;- You see the new amazing dream car, and you can&rsquo;t say no to the salesman. You buy it.</p>
<p>- Your girlfriend/boyfriend keeps mentioning how much he/she wants to go on vacation to Mexico and doesn&rsquo;t have any money. You end up footing the bill.</p>
<p>- You get married, and your spouse desperately wants a new house in which to raise your future kids. Instead of renting a house until you have more savings and higher income, you cave in and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/buy-or-rent-a-home-flowchart-2014-7" target="_blank">buy the house</a>.</p>
<p>The other thing you need to realize is that patience is partially genetic. Yes. Some people are actually designed to be able to delay gratification longer than others are. This is one reason why generational poverty exists. Some people just <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/proactive-people-are-successful-and-less-stressed-2014-7" target="_blank">don&rsquo;t have it in them</a> to say no to the new car, a fresh lotto ticket, or another pair of designer blue jeans.</p>
<p>For those of you who are worried that you&rsquo;re doomed to be poor, the good news is that investing for your future is a habit that can be acquired, so don&rsquo;t let genetics be an excuse. You just have to be aware that you are wired a certain way so you can manage yourself.</p>
<p>In addition, youth puts you at a disadvantage because you don&rsquo;t have as many experiences to draw from that remind you that you&rsquo;re doing something stupid. Most teenagers can&rsquo;t look back and say &ldquo;Remember that time when I screwed up my whole life by buying lots of things on my <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/9-tiny-purchases-you-should-always-put-on-your-credit-card-2014-7" target="_blank">credit card</a> I couldn&rsquo;t afford? That sucked.&rdquo; Most older people have those memories. That&rsquo;s why they&rsquo;re always trying to tell you what to do. They&rsquo;ve already screwed it up once, and they don&rsquo;t want you to suffer through it as they did.</p>
<p>Oftentimes, those stories aren&rsquo;t enough to convince you to follow their advice. That&rsquo;s normal. You end up learning the hard way, and you slowly gain more respect for those stories. That&rsquo;s life. Hopefully you can just take my word for it, though.</p>
<p><em>This post is an excerpt from "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Minimum-Wage-Millionaire-Financial-ebook/dp/B00JOZST82" target="_blank">The Minimum Wage Millionaire: How A Part-Time After School Job Can Change Your Financial Life</a>," by <a href="https://twitter.com/AuthorBillEdgar" target="_blank">Bill Edgar</a>.</em> &nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cognitive-bias-procrastinating-saving-money-2014-7" >This Cognitive Bias Explains Why You Keep Putting Off Saving Money</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-common-character-trait-is-costing-young-people-money-2014-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/self-control-can-be-learned-2014-33 Simple Ways To Improve Your Self-Controlhttp://www.businessinsider.com/self-control-can-be-learned-2014-3
Sat, 22 Mar 2014 12:14:10 -0400Harrison Monarth
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/532a0fabecad04103cd59270-480-/bros-drinking-alcohol-beer-7.jpg" border="0" alt="bros drinking alcohol beer" width="480" /></p><p></p>
<p>The ability to manage our emotions and exert self-control is considered one of the cornerstones of emotional intelligence and a key predictor of personal and professional success. Yet, it doesn&rsquo;t take a&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment" target="_blank">marshmallow test</a>&nbsp;to figure out that most of us are not that great at behavioral self-control.</p>
<p>Plans such as saving for retirement, losing weight or studying for exams often fail due to our inability to delay gratification when a new &ldquo;toy,&rdquo; a delicious cupcake or a night out with friends are also options on the table. We&rsquo;re often quite aware that taking a long-term view would far better serve our interests and eventually provide the bigger rewards.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>But what if we&rsquo;re more likely to devour that marshmallow at first sight and react more impulsively in general? Are we doomed to a life of mediocrity and low achievement? Not necessarily, according to a&nbsp;<a href="http://healthland.time.com/2011/09/06/the-secrets-of-self-control-the-marshmallow-test-40-years-later/" target="_blank">report in TIME</a>, citing researchers from Cornell and Duke University. People with low impulse-control don&rsquo;t lack general intelligence, nor is delaying gratification always the right choice, particularly in situations of uncertainty, according to the write-up, noting further that impulsiveness gave us great explorers and entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, knowing how to manage our impulses and developing greater self-control in the pursuit of better results will pay dividends whether we&rsquo;re studying for grad school or preparing for an IPO Roadshow.</p>
<p>Here are some tips that can help impulsive individuals better manage themselves and their resources:</p>
<h3><strong>Surround yourself with people who have high self-control.&nbsp;</strong></h3>
<p>Research from&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130409132013.htm" target="_blank">Duke University</a>, published in&nbsp;<em>Psychological Science</em>, shows that low-impulse control individuals had a tendency to seek out and surround themselves with others who had markedly more self-control, ostensibly to make up for their lack of skill in resisting temptation. Teaming up with someone more disciplined can be an effective strategy when you&rsquo;re working toward important goals, as the last thing you want in a partner is a fellow pushover who will fold right along with you when temptation winks at you.</p>
<h3><strong>Distance yourself &mdash; from yourself.&nbsp;</strong></h3>
<p>Temptation doesn&rsquo;t just come in the form of a glazed donut. Hanging back at business meetings to avoid scrutiny is often more tempting than subjecting your ideas for everyone&rsquo;s critical analysis. Similarly, walking up and introducing yourself to a potential investor at a networking conference can be the social equivalent of a root canal in progress. For those with low self-control, the impulse is often to avoid and retreat.</p>
<p><a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/106/2/304/" target="_blank">Research&nbsp;</a>from the University of Michigan, however, shows that when study participants engaged in introspective self-talk prior to an event, referring to themselves in the second or third person, as in &ldquo;you&rdquo; or by their own name, rather than in the first person, they experienced less distress in social situations, were better able to regulate negative emotions and were subsequently perceived as more successful by others. Thus, gaining a little distance from ourselves can alleviate the temptation to keep quiet when a good idea or public statement is needed.</p>
<h3><strong>Harness the &ldquo;Fresh Start Effect.&rdquo;&nbsp;</strong></h3>
<p>Researchers from The Wharton School and Harvard Business School&nbsp;<a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2204126" target="_blank">found that conjuring</a>&nbsp;the willpower to start a new project or new positive behaviors may be as simple as using a personally significant temporal landmark &mdash; such as the beginning of a week, month or year, a birthday, a vacation or semester &mdash; to kick things off. And while we&rsquo;ve all made New Year&rsquo;s resolutions that didn&rsquo;t survive the first Wednesday, the idea of a fresh start has merit.</p>
<p>Analyzing data from online searches, the researchers found that uptick in terms such as &ldquo;diet&rdquo; was regularly found at the beginning of the week rather than later in the week. Actual increases in gym attendance was measured in University undergraduates&rsquo; routines by analyzing their temporal landmarks on shared calendars, which included Mondays, birthdays and semester starts among other &ldquo;fresh start&rdquo; landmarks.</p>
<p>Of course, sticking with it is another story. To increase your chances for success in any endeavor that requires sustained effort and impulse control, make your goals as crystal-clear as possible to understand what&rsquo;s at stake. Recruit colleagues, friends, or a coach who will hold you accountable, offer perspective and provide honest feedback on your progress. It also helps to visualize a successful outcome to stay motivated when the going gets tough.</p>
<p>The good news is that the more we stretch beyond our comfort zone and make an effort to try something new and different, the more we actually strengthen our cognitive ability to control our impulses and make better choices. From seemingly insignificant behaviors such as brushing our teeth with the opposite hand to more substantial efforts such as learning an instrument, any activity that requires us to take control of our behavior rather than coast on &ldquo;autopilot&rdquo; will benefit us in the pursuit of bigger, life-changing goals.</p>
<p>Otherwise, there&rsquo;s always New Year&rsquo;s Eve.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-self-control-helps-you-succeed-2014-1" >8 Scientific Reasons Self-Control Affects Your Success</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/self-control-can-be-learned-2014-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/james-clear-on-delayed-gratification-2014-1How A Group Of Children Revealed The Secret To Success In Lifehttp://www.businessinsider.com/james-clear-on-delayed-gratification-2014-1
Sun, 26 Jan 2014 10:15:00 -0500James Clear
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52e2ccf4ecad048b0636f639-480-/marshmellow-children.jpg" border="0" alt="marshmellow children" width="480" /></p><p>In the 1960s, a Stanford professor named Walter Mischel began conducting a series of important psychological studies.</p>
<p>During his experiments, Mischel and his team tested hundreds of children &mdash; most of them around the ages of 4 and 5 years old &mdash; and revealed what is now believed to be one of the most important characteristics for success in health, work, and life.</p>
<p>Let&rsquo;s talk about what happened and, more importantly, how you can use it.<br /><span id="more-5463"></span></p>
<h3>The Marshmallow Experiment</h3>
<p>The experiment began by bringing each child into a private room, sitting them down in a chair, and placing a marshmallow on the table in front of them.</p>
<p>At this point, the researcher offered a deal to the child.</p>
<p>The researcher told the child that he was going to leave the room and that if the child did not eat the marshmallow while he was away, then they would be rewarded with a second marshmallow. However, if the child decided to eat the first one before the researcher came back, then they would not get a second marshmallow.</p>
<p>So the choice was simple: one treat right now or two treats later.</p>
<p>The researcher left the room for 15 minutes.</p>
<p>As you can imagine, the footage of the children waiting alone in the room was rather entertaining. Some kids jumped up and ate the first marshmallow as soon as the researcher closed the door. Others wiggled and bounced and scooted in their chairs as they tried to restrain themselves, but eventually gave in to temptation a few minutes later. And finally, a few of the children did manage to wait the entire time.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/5010404" title="Cognitive and attentional mechanisms in delay of gratification">Published in 1972</a>, this popular study became known as The Marshmallow Experiment, but it wasn&rsquo;t the treat that made it famous. The interesting part came years later.</p>
<h3>The Power of Delayed Gratification</h3>
<p>As the years rolled on and the children grew up, the researchers conducted follow up studies and tracked each child&rsquo;s progress in a number of areas. What they found was surprising.</p>
<p>The children who were willing to delay gratification and waited to receive the second marshmallow ended up having higher SAT scores, lower levels of substance abuse, lower likelihood of obesity, better responses to stress, better social skills as reported by their parents, and generally better scores in a range of other life measures. (You can see the followup studies&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2658056" title="Delay of gratification in children">here</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3367285" title="Delay of gratification in children">here</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="http://bingschool.stanford.edu/pub/wmischel/115-Dev%20Psych%201990.pdf" title="delay of gratification">here</a>.)</p>
<p>The researchers followed each child for more than 40 years and over and over again, the group who waited patiently for the second marshmallow succeed in whatever capacity they were measuring. In other words, this series of experiments proved that the ability to delay gratification was critical for success in life.</p>
<p>And if you look around, you&rsquo;ll see this playing out everywhere&hellip;</p>
<ul>
<li>If you delay the gratification of watching television and get your homework done now, then you&rsquo;ll learn more and get better grades.</li>
<li>If you delay the gratification of buying desserts and chips at the store, then you&rsquo;ll eat healthier when you get home.</li>
<li>If you delay the gratification of finishing your workout early and put in a few more reps, then you&rsquo;ll be stronger.</li>
</ul>
<p>&hellip; and countless other examples.</p>
<p>Success usually comes down to choosing the pain of discipline over the ease of distraction. And that&rsquo;s exactly what delayed gratification is all about.</p>
<p>This brings us to an interesting question: Did some children naturally have more self-control, and thus were destined for success? Or can you learn to develop this important trait?</p>
<h3>What Determines Your Ability to Delay Gratification?</h3>
<p>Researchers at the University of Rochester decided to replicate the marshmallow experiment, but with an important twist. (You can read the study&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23063236" title="Rational snacking">here</a>.)</p>
<p>Before offering the child the marshmallow, the researchers split the children into two groups.</p>
<p><strong>The first group was exposed to a series of unreliable experiences.</strong>&nbsp;For example, the researcher gave the child a small box of crayons and promised to bring a bigger one, but never did. Then the researcher gave the child a small sticker and promised to bring a better selection of stickers, but never did.</p>
<p><strong>Meanwhile, the second group had very reliable experiences.</strong>&nbsp;They were promised better crayons and got them. They were told about the better stickers and then they received them.</p>
<p>You can imagine the impact these experiences had on the marshmallow test. The children in the unreliable group had no reason to trust that the researchers would bring a second marshmallow and thus they didn&rsquo;t wait very long to eat the first one.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the children in the second group were training their brains to see delayed gratification as a positive. Every time the researcher made a promise and then delivered on it, the child&rsquo;s brain registered two things: 1) waiting for gratification is worth it and 2) I have the capability to wait. As a result, the second group waited an average of four times longer than the first group.</p>
<p>In other words, the child&rsquo;s ability to delay gratification and display self-control was not a predetermined trait, but rather was impacted by the experiences and environment that surrounded them. In fact, the effects of the environment were almost instantaneous. Just a few minutes of reliable or unreliable experiences were enough to push the actions of each child in one direction or another.</p>
<p>What can you and I learn from all of this?</p>
<h3>How to Become Better at Delaying Gratification</h3>
<p>Before we go further, let&rsquo;s clear one thing up: for one reason or another, the Marshmallow Experiment has become particularly popular. You&rsquo;ll find it mentioned in nearly every major media outlet. But these studies are just one piece of data, a small insight into the story of success. Human behavior (and life in general) is a lot more complex than that, so let&rsquo;s not pretend that one choice a four-year-old makes will determine the rest of his or her life.</p>
<p>But&hellip;</p>
<p>The studies above do make one thing clear: if you want to succeed at something, at some point you will need to find the ability to be disciplined and take action instead of becoming distracted and doing what&rsquo;s easy. Success in nearly every field requires you to ignore doing something easier (delaying gratification) in favor of doing something harder (<a href="http://jamesclear.com/required-for-success" title="do the work">doing the work</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://jamesclear.com/repetitions" title="repetitions">putting in your reps</a>).</p>
<p>But the key takeaway here is that even if you don&rsquo;t feel like you&rsquo;re good at delaying gratification now, you can train yourself to become better simply by making a few small improvements. In the case of the children in the study, this meant being exposed to a reliable environment where the researcher promised something and then delivered it.</p>
<p>You and I can do the same thing. We can train our ability to delay gratification, just like we can train our muscles in the gym. And you can do it in the same way as the child and the researcher: by promising something small and then delivering. Over and over again until your brain says, 1) yes, it&rsquo;s worth it to wait and 2) yes, I have the capability to do this.</p>
<p>Here are 4 simple ways to do exactly that:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;"><a href="http://jamesclear.com/good-habits" title="good habits">Start incredibly small</a>.</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;"> Make your new habit &ldquo;so easy you can&rsquo;t say no.&rdquo; (Hat tip to&nbsp;</span><a href="http://zenhabits.net/habitses/" title="habits">Leo Babauta</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;">.)</span></li>
<li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;"><a href="http://jamesclear.com/marginal-gains" title="aggregation of marginal gains">Improve one thing, by one percent</a>.</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;"> Do it again tomorrow.</span></li>
<li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;"><a href="http://jamesclear.com/stop-procrastinating-seinfeld-strategy" title="how to stop procrastinating">Use the &ldquo;Seinfeld Strategy&rdquo;</a></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;">&nbsp;to maintain consistency.</span></li>
<li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;"><a href="http://jamesclear.com/how-to-stop-procrastinating" title="how to stop procrastinating">Find a way to get started in less than 2 minutes</a></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></li>
</ul><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/things-that-affect-success-2014-1" >12 Surprising Things That Can Make You Successful</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/james-clear-on-delayed-gratification-2014-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/why-patience-is-the-secret-to-success-2014-1Why Patience Is The Secret To Successhttp://www.businessinsider.com/why-patience-is-the-secret-to-success-2014-1
Fri, 17 Jan 2014 12:03:11 -0500Beth Kuhel
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/52d94fac6da811de30dd0e7b-480-/sitting-on-bridge-waiting-patience-calm-pensive-thinking-thoughtful-1.jpg" border="0" alt="sitting on bridge waiting patience calm pensive thinking thoughtful" width="480" /></p><p>We live in a world that's driven by instant gratification.</p>
<p>We share even the most&nbsp;<a href="http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/slideshows/12-common-work-email-mistakes">intimate information via email</a>, instant messaging, Snapchat and texting to get a quick message out.&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The declining profits in printed media over recent years shines light on the fact that as a society we prefer to garner our information from the Web, which we can access 24/7 rather than from printed media, which comes once per day (and in some locations, only a few times per week).</span></p>
<p>Our televisions host literally hundreds of stations and programs to choose from so we don't need to wait for our entertainment. We can "like" an article or a YouTube video and create fame for its publisher overnight. Revolutions can come about almost spontaneously from posts on Twitter. We have instant hot, microwave-prepared gourmet meals of every cuisine type to speed up our food preparation make it harder to accept having to make a home-cooked meal from scratch.</p>
<p>There is little left that requires slow, controlled, delayed gratification. Even&nbsp;<a href="http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2013/08/29/how-the-best-dating-advice-applies-to-your-job-hunt">speed dating</a>&nbsp;has been popularized over recent years. With all of this rapidity and instant gratification in our daily affairs, it's no wonder that new hires have difficulty waiting patiently for promotions, raises and advancement at their firms (or in their careers). The trouble with the expectation for fast results is that some things require patience, persistence and time to manifest.</p>
<p>The positive effects of patience and persistence can go a long way in helping a person achieve success in business. When a new hire arrives to his first job, it's obvious there will be a learning curve until he or she becomes comfortable in his or her new role and master the tasks expected from the job description.</p>
<p>Too often young candidates have unrealistic expectations about how speedily things progress in one's career from salaries and promotions to implementing new ideas. This is a typical mentality of young people today in a generation that's been raised to see instant progress in most every area of their lives.</p>
<p><a href="http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2013/12/10/why-baby-boomers-can-be-great-entrepreneurs">Successful entrepreneurs</a>&nbsp;often note that they have many projects in the fire, some they hope will take off sooner and others that will require many years to cultivate before they're actualized and successful. A recent discussion with a highly successful executive and serial entrepreneur exposed this principle in a concise fashion. This executive expressed his respect and approval for one of his younger managers. However, he also shared that the biggest challenge for him as a mentor is to teach his young prot&eacute;g&eacute;s that new projects take time to develop, execute properly and implement.</p>
<p>As a manager his main challenge is to help his junior staff overcome their insistence and their disappointment when things don't come to fruition quickly. He suggests to all of his junior managers that they always have one project that's likely to succeed in the near future, so they can maintain their motivation to pursue their other projects, which will require more time to cultivate and actualize. This strategy seems to help mitigate younger staff's anxiety about completing projects speedily.</p>
<p>As a society we benefit from recognizing that some things are worth waiting for: They require our patience, persistence and hard work to fully actualize.&nbsp;<a href="http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2013/01/09/begin-building-meaningful-and-professional-relationships-today">Great relationships</a>, complex business ideas and change are typically not accomplished overnight. In fact, the waiting can have a positive effect on a person by increasing one's humility that we can't control everything.</p>
<p>It also feels good to know that one's hard work paid off. Toiling in the right areas creates grit, and gritty people often enjoy the satisfaction that they've earned the rewards from sweating over a project.</p>
<p>A person benefits from adopting the philosophy that the only thing we can be certain we can control is one's effort, but the outcome isn't in our control at all. This may explain why success that's delayed brings deeper satisfaction than those things that come to us quickly.</p>
<p>Maybe that's why we admire people who have achieved long, happy marriages and overcome difficulties in life, and why we esteem businesses that have shown sustainability&nbsp;<a href="ttp://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2013/09/09/6-ways-to-be-happier-at-work">through difficult economic times</a>. Those individuals and companies have patience and persist even when it doesn't appear that success is guaranteed. They teach everyone there is value in not expecting immediate results or instant happiness.</p>
<p>Some things are worth holding on and waiting for. Discernment is knowing which ones are worth it.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/david-horsager-trust-edge-2012-11" >Our Obsession With Instant Gratification Is A Big Problem For Companies</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-patience-is-the-secret-to-success-2014-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/advice-for-prioritizing-2013-1INSTANT MBA: You Need To Know What Doesn't Matterhttp://www.businessinsider.com/advice-for-prioritizing-2013-1
Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:04:00 -0500Carolyn Cutrone
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/50f052c5ecad04b977000011-400/gj-hart-ceo-of-california-pizza-kitchen.png" border="0" alt="G.J. Hart, CEO of California Pizza Kitchen " /></p><p><em>Today's advice comes from G.J. Heart, CEO of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/business/california-pizza-kitchens-chief-on-6-steps-to-leadership.html" target="_blank">California Pizza Kitchen</a>, via <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/the-new-york-times">The New York Times</a>:</em></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em;">"One thing I&rsquo;ve learned over time is a lot more patience and tolerance. I used to always want things yesterday and would be very anxious about moving things along faster. But now I understand that tomorrow&rsquo;s another day and that things will move along."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em;">Heart says his leadership evolved when he learned to focus on moving forward and having more patience.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em;">While moving fast is a good quality for CEOs to have, it's important that they know how to move on when deadlines and schedules need to be altered. Prioritizing is one of the most difficult aspects of being an efficient leader. The better you get at separating what matters from what can wait temporarily, you'll be on track to worrying less and only looking forward.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>"I think more about whether something really matters and how it will make a difference, versus thinking that everything matters and everything makes a difference. It&rsquo;s also much clearer to me now what the leadership qualities are that are most important to me."</p>
<p><em><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em;">Want your&nbsp;business advice featured in Instant MBA? Submit your tips to&nbsp;</span><a href="mailto:tipoftheday@businessinsider.com">tipoftheday@businessinsider.com</a><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em;">. Be sure to include your name, your job title, and a photo of yourself in your email.</span></em></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/advice-for-prioritizing-2013-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-french-are-raising-a-generation-of-smart-spenders-2012-2The French Are Raising A Generation Of Smart Spendershttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-french-are-raising-a-generation-of-smart-spenders-2012-2
Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:37:00 -0500Jill Krasny
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4f316d8beab8eac04a000026/french-family-museum-happy-parents.jpg" border="0" alt="French family, museum, happy, parents" /></p><p>Teaching children the value of patience could pay off for the French in the long run.</p>
<p>In an <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204740904577196931457473816.html">WSJ excerpt </a>from her book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Up-Bebe-Discovers-Parenting/dp/1594203334">Bringing Up B&eacute;b&eacute;</a>, Pamela Druckerman explains how <em>les enfants</em> learn patience:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">One of the keys to this education is the simple act of learning how to wait. It is why the French babies I meet mostly sleep through the night from two or three months old.<strong> Their parents don't pick them up the second they start crying, allowing the babies to learn how to fall back asleep. It</strong> is also why French toddlers will sit happily at a restaurant. <strong>Rather than snacking all day like American children, they mostly have to wait until mealtime to eat.</strong> (French kids consistently have three meals a day and one snack around 4 p.m.)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">One Saturday I visited Delphine Porcher, a pretty labor lawyer in her mid-30s who lives with her family in the suburbs east of Paris. When I arrived, her husband was working on his laptop in the living room, while 1-year-old Aubane napped nearby. Pauline, their 3-year-old, was sitting at the kitchen table, completely absorbed in the task of plopping cupcake batter into little wrappers. She somehow resisted the temptation to eat the batter.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Delphine said that she never set out specifically to teach her kids patience. But her family's daily rituals are an ongoing apprenticeship in how to delay gratification.</strong> Delphine said that she sometimes bought Pauline candy. (Bonbons are on display in most bakeries.) But Pauline wasn't allowed to eat the candy until that day's snack, even if it meant waiting many hours.</p>
<p>Contrast this with American shoppers who freely indulge in credit, predatory payday loans and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cms/posts?action=preview&amp;mode=content&amp;id=4f3169fdeab8ea2c4600002b" target="_blank">all sorts of impulse shopping</a>, and whose children "go to pieces" when they're denied a toy, treat or whatever else they want right this second.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The French know better.&nbsp;<span>Budgeting or planning what you're going to do with your money will make or break whether you're able to&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-couples-save-emergencies-2012-1" target="_blank">cover an emergency</a><span>,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/43-of-us-households-are-living-an-emergency-away-from-food-stamps-2012-2" target="_blank">live a disaster away from the bread line</a><span>, afford a new home or feel prepared to&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/7-saving-tips-for-couples-starting-a-family-2012-2" target="_blank">start a family</a><span>.&nbsp;</span></p>
<h2><a href="http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-02/news/30669631_1_lifelong-partners-flickr-crime" target="_blank">Now see what you need to know about marriage and finance &gt;&nbsp;</a></h2><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-french-are-raising-a-generation-of-smart-spenders-2012-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/no-patience-your-credit-score-probably-blows-2011-12Study Says Being Impatient Is Trashing Your Credit Score http://www.businessinsider.com/no-patience-your-credit-score-probably-blows-2011-12
Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:38:00 -0500Madeleine Scinto
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4edfcd566bb3f7af3100001c/impatience-scinto.jpg" border="0" alt="impatience-scinto" /></p><p>Those who exert more patience and are willing to wait for larger financial payouts down the line have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-if-you-have-aol-your-credit-probably-sucks-2011-11">credit scores</a>&nbsp;an average of 30 points higher than those who are less patient, according to a study to be published in the <em>Journal of Psychological Science</em> next month.</p>
<p><a href="http://moneyland.time.com/2011/12/06/impatient-then-your-credit-probably-stinks/" target="_blank">Time Moneyland's Martha White reports</a> that Stephan Meier and Charles Sprenger, professors at Columbia and Stanford, respectively, found that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/youve-got-a-bad-credit-score-cuz-youre-too-damn-nice-2011-11" target="_blank">people who need instant gratification</a> are also more likely to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/5-easy-ways-to-trash-your-credit-score-2011-10" target="_blank">pay their credit cards late</a> or skip a payment altogether.</p>
<p>Impatient consumers want to feel the immediate benefit of cash in the bank, which outweighs the benefit of not paying interest or late fees.</p>
<p>Meier and Sprenger based their findings on a survey of 437 people they asked a variety of questions, noting how much money it took before the respondents' impatience kicked in and they opted for a smaller amount of money faster. The study was controlled for income, total debt, and demographic differences.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The most extreme choice was $22 now or $50 in a month,&rdquo; Meier says. &ldquo;There was a surprising amount of people taking the $22.&rdquo;</p>
<p>One of the other striking finds of their paper, "Time Discounting Predicts Creditworthiness," was how those who proved to be least patient scored an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-to-skyrocket-your-credit-score-2011-11" target="_blank">average credit score below 620</a>, the number that usually distinguishes between prime and "subprime" borrowers. ("Subprime" borrowers will pay higher interest rates on things like mortgages and other loans.)</p>
<h2><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #000000; font-size: 20px; line-height: normal;">If you've got a bad score, </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pawnshop-customers-statistics-2011-11" target="_blank">see how others like you are turning to pawnshops for loans &gt;</a></strong></h2><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/no-patience-your-credit-score-probably-blows-2011-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p>